A center pillar extending in a vertical direction is disposed at the center of a vehicle lateral portion, that is, between a front door and a rear door, in a vehicle such as an automobile. As disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. JP 2007-069667A, in general, the center pillar is configured by joining a pillar outer panel constituting a surface on the outer side and a pillar inner panel constituting a surface on the interior side.
The center pillar is required to have high rigidity in order to prevent deformation due to loads applied in a collision such as a collision against the lateral surface (lateral collision). Therefore, in general, the center pillar has a hat-shaped pillar outer panel that bulges out toward the vehicle outer side and a hat-shaped pillar inner panel that bulges out toward the vehicle interior side. As a result, a closed cross section is formed by joining the pillar outer panel and the pillar inner panel together, and therefore, the rigidity of the center pillar is improved. However, when the pillar inner panel bulges out toward the vehicle interior side, the bulge portion projects toward the inside of a compartment, and thus a compartment space is narrowed. In particular, in a configuration in which the upper portion of the center pillar is inclined toward the vehicle interior side, there has been a problem in that a space in the upper portion of a compartment is narrowed and passenger comfort is deteriorated.
In view of the foregoing problems, it is an object of the present invention to provide a vehicle center pillar capable of improving comfort by ensuring a space in a compartment while favorably suppressing deformation by ensuring high rigidity.